Deb was very well aware that Sam’s couch was the most comfortable thing on the planet. She had been cat sitting, taking advantage of the couch, while Sam took a quick trip to New York and then Boston to fulfill a promise he’d made.

It had been an interesting few days, but the separation was supposed to end in a matter of minutes, and she’d see him again. She missed him. Now, she was on that amazing couch, reading Melanie Gould’s latest historical romance with Toby curled up on her stomach.

At the sound of the key in the lock, she put her kindle down, stretched to give Toby the heads up that she was moving, and held him as she heard the click of the door. She kissed his soft head as she heard the hinges.

She held her breath as Sam walked in, pushing his rolling suitcase, a lopsided grin on his face. The handsome familiarity of his features had an exhausted cast to them, dark circles under his eyes and a slight redness inside them.

As she walked to meet Sam, Toby headed towards the suitcase, attacking it like an unforeseen foe.

“Hii,” she said. “You look exhausted.”

“I am. It was a crazy few days.” Then he smirked. “If I never see another can of baked beans in my life, I will be a VERY happy person.”

She grinned. “You’re such a good sport though.”

He shrugged, and she wanted to kiss him right then and there. So she took his hand and did exactly that. He tasted like mint, a breath mint or a piece of gum he’d chewed in the car ride from the airport.

His hands dropped to her shoulders, settling in; hers fell to the zipper of his jacket, opening it, letting him shrug out of it. He broke the kiss to finish taking off his coat, but she could see the hunger in his eyes.

“Welcome home?”

She nodded. “Welcome home.”

His hands caressed her pajama-clad hips, his touch burning through the fabric. She focused on the buttons of his shirt; it needed to come off. Immediately.

Then his pants, but she’d settle for licking down his chest …

Then he kissed her, and lifted her off the floor. She kissed him, cupping his cheek with one hand and holding the back of his neck with the other, pushing him closer to her.

“All that work in the gym needs to be good for something,” he murmured.

“All for my benefit,” she informed him as he laid her down on the bed. This moment had been coming for so long, that she didn’t even wait; did not want foreplay no matter how much she’d hurt. She wanted him now, here…

Without the kitten who’d decided to join them.

Sam laughed, kissed her, and picked up Toby. He headed for the bathroom and closed the bedroom door behind him.

Sam was thankful for Toby’s desire to join them in the bedroom because it allowed him to get a condom from the box in the bathroom. As he headed down the hall, the kitten in his arms, he wondered what Deb was up to. Was she undressing? Would she be naked when he returned?

He forced his brain out of the gutter, knowing that thinking about her would make him harder. But when he finally walked out of the bathroom, after grabbing Toby twice from under the couch in the living room, and closed the door behind him, he let his mind wander back to her.

Imagination was nothing when confronted with the reality of seeing Deb naked, touching herself, on his bed. He shucked his clothes…immediately. Then practically crawled across his mattress towards her, kissing her body as he did. Then he pressed his lips against hers as she brought herself to climax.

He was hard. He was ready.

“I’m ready. I want you.”

“I want you, too,” he said.

“Now?”

He grinned. “As you wish,” he said as he moved closer to her, kissed her as he guided her down. He broke the kiss as he entered her, slowly and easily as she expanded around him.

“Mmmm.”

He moved his hips, slowly at first, then faster, judging his speed with the sound of her moans.

“Faster,” she implored. “Faster.”

He went faster, his hands caressing her cheeks, her neck and then her shoulders, until finally release. Explosion. Relief…

He lay down next to her, held her. “Welcome home,” she said.

It did, in that moment, feel like he’d come home.

Deb did not want to get out of bed. It was warm, as was Sam. Toby, freed from the bathroom sometime in the middle of the night, had found a spot in between them and made the bed even more comfortable.

But in the darkness, she knew she could no longer stay. School awaited. Life awaited.

Sam’s hand moved down her shoulder, pulling her close. She kissed his arm and stretched.

“Gotta go,” she mumbled.

Sam groaned, but she got up, reaching for the shirt she’d thrown on the floor.

“You’re…you’re so special,” he said.

She laughed. “I’m not sure why you’re telling me this now. But I’ll take it.” She threw on the shirt, and headed into the bathroom, picking up the bag she’d left just outside before closing the door behind her.

She heard the scratches against the door, and decided she didn’t want the feline guest sharing the bathroom. “Go back to bed, Toby. You do not want to be in here. It’ll get hot.”

“Come on,” she heard Sam say on the other side of the door. “Let’s go cause trouble…”

Then she heard his slippers swishing against the wooden floor in the bedroom, followed by the scratching of claws and the noises of a kitten being distracted. She took off her shirt, reached into her bag and began the task of removing her clothes and her toiletries, placing them on the top of the toilet seat she’d covered with the towel he’d left her. Being here, with him, was starting to feel like home in a world where she felt like she was losing her place. She just didn’t want it to end.

The apartment was cold, and Sam found that his pajama pants and slippers definitely did not provide enough protection against it. But seeing the expression on Deb’s face as she came into the kitchen to discover the breakfast of coffee, toast and an omelet waiting for her on the table would make his sacrifice worthwhile.

He was in love.

He thought about it a bit more as he began to dice up the vegetables and listened to the coffee as it began to brew, smelled the toast heating up in the toaster. Yep. This borrowed apartment felt like home, and he was, in fact, in love.

But in the back of his mind, the doubt weasels had returned. They told him that this was an interlude that wouldn’t survive him telling Deb that he’d been her anonymous donor, nor would it withstand the oncoming barrage of his schedule.

Piteous mewing broke into his thoughts, and he lifted Toby into his arms before bending down. The oil he’d be cooking with was too dangerous for the mischievous kitten to be around. “Ok. Into the crate with you,” he said as he lifted Toby into his crate.

But he continued to cook, thinking of Deb, upstairs in the shower, getting ready. She and that adorable kitten would be worth whatever sacrifices he had to make.

Deb entered the kitchen, staring at her watch, the nervous expression on her face changing to surprise mixed with disappointment as she saw the display on the table.

“You don’t have time?” Sam asked, even though he looked like he anticipated the answer.

“I can’t sit.”

He didn’t seem too disappointed. But there was understanding and what seemed like a plan in his eyes. “You finish getting ready,” he said, sounding like he’d made a decision, “I’ll make it to go, ok?”

She nodded, slightly dubious as she headed towards the living room to gather her school things. She stared at her watch and gasped, realizing how late she was, as she pulled her stuff together, and ran out of the bathroom.

When she got back to the kitchen table, she found herself in complete awe and astonishment. Sam stood in front of the table, and she’d never adored him as much as she did at that very moment. He had made her breakfast to go, turning that gorgeous omelet into an egg sandwich, and he’d put coffee in a thermos, probably exactly the way she liked it.

“Wow,” she managed, staring at him, at the smile on his face, the brightness of his eyes and the way he looked in the morning light in front of the table. “You…that’s gorgeous. Thank you. For…”

Then she put her bag down and pulled him close. He tasted of toothpaste, of coffee, of mornings, and possibilities.

His eyes were bright, wide when she broke the kiss. “Gotta go,” she said, rubbing his upper lip with her thumb. “See you later?”

He nodded. “Yes. I’ve got a few things I want to talk to you about later.”

“Good things?”

He nodded. “Yes. Good things that have been happening.”

“See you later then.” She kissed him on the cheek, and headed out, excited about the possibilities of what could be.